Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recognizing lane partition lines on opposite sides of a traveling lane based on an image captured by a vehicle-mounted camera.
Related Art
In recent years, there have been proposed various driving assistance apparatuses for recognizing lane partition lines on opposite sides of a traveling lane on a roadway based on an image captured by a vehicle-mounted camera. Some of the apparatuses are configured to detect lane partition line candidates from the image, and select lane partition lines from the lane partition line candidates using a previously acquired lane width.
For example, a vehicle-mounted image processor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H09-35065 is configured to calculate left and right candidate points as outline candidate points of left and right lane partition lines of the traveling lane from the image, and determine left and right candidate points, a distance between which is closest to a lane width, as being recognition points of the left and right lane partition lines. The lane width used therein is a lane width learned based on the distances between the previously determined recognition points of left and right lane partition lines.
The traveling lane and its adjacent lane may have different lane widths. For example, in the case of a two-way roadway having three lanes for each direction, a more central lane of the three lanes on a left- or right-half side of the roadway may often have a larger lane width. Therefore, limiting the recognition of the lane partition lines based on a learned value of the lane width may prevent the recognition of the lane partition lines during a lane change between the lanes having different lane widths, which may delay re-recognition of the lane partition lines on opposite sides of a traveling lane after the lane change.
In consideration of the foregoing, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing an apparatus for recognizing lane partition lines on opposite sides of a traveling lane on a roadway, capable of reducing a delay in recognition of the lane partition lines of a traveling lane after a lane change between lanes having equal or even different lane widths.